1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gateway apparatus mounted on a vehicle and relaying data between a plurality of networks, and also to a data managing method with the gateway apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as shown in FIG. 35, a plurality of ECUs are mounted on vehicles, such as an engine ECU, a door controlling ECU, an airbag ECU, an audio ECU, and a navigation ECU. In order for these in-vehicle ECUs to have communications between a plurality of LANs having different communication systems and different communication speeds, a gateway apparatus is required.
A gateway apparatus implements gateway functions such as relaying data sent and received between a plurality of different networks by software control, conversion of communication protocols, and packet filtering. Thus communications between nodes connected to different networks are performed.
Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. JP-A-2003-244187 and JP-A-2003-264571 disclose that the routing function of the gateway apparatus is implemented by software.